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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Everything depended on her. Realizing this, Estia’s hands began to tremble.
“A-Are they going to beat me up…!? Wrap me in a blanket and stomp on me…!?”
Shiver-!
Estia remembered the horrifying scene of being rolled up in a blanket and trampled by the Hero’s party.
‘Trying to restore Mister’s memories! You traitor!’
‘D-Die…! It’s all your fault…!’
‘A lowly Saintess betraying us. You deserve to be punished.’
‘It hurts! Help me!’
Thump, thump-!
The imagined pain of being kicked and beaten while trapped in a dark blanket was so vivid that Estia cried out,
“I’m scared! I don’t want to get hurt!”
Luna turned her head.
“What are you doing, Estia?”
“N-Nothing! I’m not doing anything! Really! Believe me!”
“Hmm…”
Estia looked incredibly suspicious. Luna narrowed her eyes, then walked away.
“Think carefully about which choice will help Mister, Estia…”
“He… hehe… of course! Trust me!”
Estia, the weakest member of the Hero’s party, breathed a sigh of relief once Luna was gone.
“Hmph, of course restoring his memories will help Brother! He might have some bad memories, but he has way more happy memories!”
It would be absurd to erase those happy memories. They said Mister would be in pain and might even die if he remembered, but Estia was overconfident.
“Why would Brother die when I’m here! He won’t die!”
I can heal him!
Because I’m the Saintess!
Estia, her confidence overflowing, reached the location of the final soul fragment and declared,
“Put down all the staffs, Hare!”
“Q-Quickly… e-erase that woman… from Mister’s memories…”
Thud-
Hare collapsed onto the ground, her face covered in sweat.
“They must have been heavy. Don’t worry, Hare, I’ll fulfill your last wish.”
“…”
“Oh dear, she’s finally gone.”
“…”
Hare didn’t respond. She seemed to be dead. Saten ignored Hare and asked Estia,
“So, what do we do now?”
“Um, wait a moment! Let me read this again!”
“…Did you forget already?”
“No! I just… got confused!”
Estia frantically opened the book and read the instructions on restoring Lee Jun-woo’s soul, connecting him to Minerva, and then erasing his memories.
‘Got it!’
Estia closed the book and declared,
“Gather all of Brother’s staffs and wait! I’ll heal Mister’s soul!”
“Are you sure about this? We’re trusting you, Estia.”
“O-Of course! Trust me!”
“…”
Luna was skeptical, but she gathered the staffs as instructed. Estia knelt down and began to heal Lee Jun-woo’s shattered soul.
“Goddess! Give me strength! Heal Brother’s injured soul! And restore him to his former self!”
“…Restore him to his former self? Estia, are you betraying us-“
“She said to restore his soul first! Just wait!”
Estia calmed down the paranoid Luna and closed her eyes, praying.
Divine power flowed from her body, illuminating the darkness and seeping into the ground, entering Lee Jun-woo’s memories to heal his soul.
“Is this enough?”
“Estia, are you done?”
“I think so! Brother’s soul isn’t absorbing any more divine power!”
The first step was a success. If Brother wakes up now, he’ll remember Sister Aina. His soul is healed, and the memories are still there.
Estia looked at the ten staffs scattered on the ground.
‘To make Brother forget Sister Aina…’
…I just have to burn these staffs. Intentionally injure his healed soul… and destroy the keys to his memories. But Estia had no intention of doing that. She picked up a staff. Luna tilted her head.
“Estia?”
“B-Brother’s soul is healed! He must be connected to the Goddess now!”
“Then quickly erase Mister’s memories-“
“We can’t erase them!”
The image of being kicked around like a soccer ball flashed through Estia’s mind, but she gritted her teeth. She had learned to move forward. She wouldn’t back down.
“W-We can’t erase these memories! It’s for Brother’s own good!”
“…Are you betraying us!? Seriously!? We have to erase Mister’s bad memories! They’re hurting him!”
Estia was scared of Luna when she was like this, but she spoke up.
“…They’re not always painful, stupid Hero! There were eight happy memories! And only two bad ones! Brother wants to remember! It’s for his own good! Luna, do you have some ulterior motive?”
Luna, her conscience pricked, shouted,
“I-I don’t have any ulterior motives! I just want Mister to be happy-“
“Did you ask Mister if erasing his memories would make him happy?! You decided on your own! What’s the difference between you and a cult leader! You idiot!”
“W-Well…”
Luna was speechless.
‘Was she always this eloquent…?’
Estia was usually… not very bright. But now, she was confident and her logic was sound.
Her experience of surviving in the Church through social skills and proselytizing hadn’t dulled.
“So! We have to restore Mister’s memories! Saintess over Hero! Got it!?”
“U-Um…”
Luna was at a loss for words. She couldn’t argue with sound logic. But Saten, the embodiment of logic, was unfazed.
“So what?”
“Saten? I told you! Brother’s happiness is his to decide-“
“So? What’s your point?”
“…Huh?”
“As long as that woman is in Mister’s heart, we’ll receive less attention. But if she’s gone? Mister will only think about us. I’ll only suffer if Mister’s memories return.”
“W-What…?”
“She said these staffs are the keys. If we destroy them all, Mister won’t be able to open the door, right?”
Saten snapped her fingers.
Crack-!
“Seeing Mister happy… makes my heart burn. That’s why I don’t want to restore his memories.”
“N-No! You crazy mage! Don’t do it!”
Whoosh~
The staffs burst into flames. Saten smiled faintly.
“My heart finally feels cold.”
“Y-You psychopath! How can you burn the staffs!”
“If we want to trap him, we have to destroy all the keys. Now hand over the last staff, Estia.”
Saten extended her hand, her expression calm. She had awakened her ‘rage’ during the battle with the Demon Lord. And seeing Mister and Aina’s happy memories fueled that rage. Burning the staffs brought her peace. Estia, terrified by Saten’s madness, could only stare.
“You’re a psycho… a lunatic!”
“I’m better than a drug addict.”
“I’m not a drug addict anymore, idiot! I’m a holy water addict!”
“…Just give me the staff. You’re being noisy.”
Saten reached for the staff, but Estia dodged, surprised by her own agility.
“Did… did I just dodge that…? How did I…?”
“Stop being annoying and come here, Estia.”
“No! You’ll burn the staff!”
“Will you come if I don’t burn it?”
“Of course!”
“Then I’ll crush it with my foot, so come here.”
“Y-You crazy woman!”
She’s insane!
Estia tried to run away. She was the slowest of the group.
“Using physical ability, how cowardly.”
But Saten was also a shut-in, so she couldn’t catch Estia easily. It was fortunate for Estia that Hare was unconscious.
“Hehe, you can’t catch me! You idiot!”
“You’re dead if I catch you. Really dead.”
“S-Sorry! I take it back!”
“Sigh… Luna, stop standing there and catch Estia.”
“…”
“Luna?”
Luna didn’t respond. She was frozen, lost in thought.
‘I was so selfish… you stupid Hero…’
Self-justification.
Estia’s words had hit Luna hard. She hadn’t realized she was being selfish. She had tried to hurt Mister, without even asking him, for her own benefit. She hated herself a little.
“Sigh… you’re really dead if I catch you… sigh… you should prepare to be a test subject…”
“H-Help me…!!”
The chase continued, and just as Saten was about to catch Estia…
Rumble-!
A loud noise interrupted them. The ground shook, making it hard to stand. Estia shouted,
“H-He’s awake!”
“Huh…? What do you mean?”
“Brother is awake! This is…”
…the sound of him waking up!
Saten tried to grab the staff, but the shaking intensified.
‘If this continues, Brother’s memories will return…!’
She had only opened one door, but with the key still intact, it was only a matter of time before the other memories returned.
“I did my best…”
Estia closed her eyes, feeling at peace as the space around them crumbled. She was exhausted from using her divine power and running.
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